The Day That Became Forever
by firstForward
Summary: Kaiba's life is torn out from under him, but he's not willing to move on, not just yet. Amane's in the same position. So they make a deal, to wait out forever. Credit to Azhdarcho for the plot idea.


The Day That Became Forever

He's agile, Kaiba thinks. It's in a way that isn't defined by grace or speed, but rather in the way that he can twist his body preemptively before Kaiba can land a hit. It's almost as if he can read minds, like a certain businessman that he knows well, but this is not the case, because he can see the man's eyes track him carefully to make sure that he catches every miniscule hint that is given away before Kaiba moves. They are peculiar eyes, Kaiba has decided, a far different purple than Yuugi's. They're like little violet flames, though what drives this man to such intense anger and madness he doesn't know. He doesn't care, either; a man's past is his own and he is not the one for digging up pasts anyway.

They're both trained well for close combat, or their fight would have concluded a while ago. They both have the muscle to throw their opponent over their shoulder with one hand behind their back, and the endurance to last them through a half-marathon, if they care to think about it. But it is not strength nor endurance that is going to decide victory. It isn't even willpower. It's something that Kaiba does not believe in, and it is called sorcery: a dark power that ignores the laws of their reality, and makes science fiction novels look like fairytales.

It's just as well that Kaiba does not believe in sorcery, or he would see his disadvantage and be despairing. As they lash out at each other, breath flowing in spurts through clenched teeth, it's just as well that Kaiba does not believe that the gold stick at his opponent's belt is anything more than a gold stick. Because he's not about to get help anytime soon, he's stuck fighting with no turning around now, and Kaiba would be furious to learn that he has no chance of battling the deadly magic that's spiking through his opponent's veins. So it's better that he thinks that there's a possibility of a win, in order to have no regrets.

Darkness is spewing out from the light bulbs overhead, though he doesn't notice. Darkness is rotting the air, sucking out the colour and turning the world grey, but he doesn't pay any attention at all. All Kaiba sees is the sweeping motion of his enemy's arm, and the vicious smirk as his fingers brush at the skin exposed by Kaiba's torn sleeve. All he feels is the electric jolt of cold energy, roiling under his skin and making every nerve snap taunt as it rushes through his system. Kaiba spits blood; his limbs creak with an aching he's unaccustomed to experiencing. And he knows there's something _foreign_ in his body.

"It has to be this way," his opponent drawls, licking his lips like he's enjoying himself, "I have nothing against you personally, you understand. But you serve under him, and that makes you an enemy. Something that needs to be destroyed."

Kaiba's pacing backwards, grinding his teeth at the implication that he actually believes the madman, actually knows what he's talking about. "I'm not the bloody reincarnation of anybody," he snarls back.

"You are, you are!" He's dashing forward now, hands punching, but Kaiba manages to block him, so he drops into a smooth kick and tries to break his kneecap. Kaiba flips backwards with a short intake of air, stomach sick at seeing the wide smile on the man's face as he gets some distance between them. "I can see it in your face, you're so like him it's shocking. Every..." he makes a show of giving Kaiba a once-over, hands gesturing to snap a picture. Kaiba's still sick. "Inch," he finishes, grinning like there isn't blood spilt between them.

He isn't sure if it's the blood loss or his tiredness, but he's seeing double, though not of every object in the room. There's two sets of purple eyes staring at him, two separate heads, two bodies, and for a moment Kaiba forgets his disbelief and says, "You aren't going to tell me the same thing Yuugi did, are you? Some nonsense about a soul trapped in an ancient artefact." He's as cold as his voice, but his limbs will not shiver, and Kaiba worries over the state of his body.

The double image is screaming at him silently, but Kaiba cannot read lips to understand it. The double image is more passionate than the real one —what he thinks is the real one, anyway— and it's disturbing to know that the madman isn't even completely interested in killing him, though he attacks like he is uncaring about how much damage he'll take.

As the image screams, the first one gets annoyed and says, "You shouldn't be able to see him." He reaches forward to strike out again, not liking that Kaiba is now staring only at the light side of him.

There's something to be said about his next caustic hit, catching Kaiba just briefly on the chin before he manages to spin away and tries to wrench up his opponent's arm behind him back. It fails because the hand that had hit him was layered in Shadows (something that Kaiba also does not believe in) and now the darkness is flowing up his face in icy cold waves, draining him of energy. He collapses; scrambles back. The other image is still screaming uselessly at him.

It's like the feeling of being underwater, Kaiba thinks drowsily. There's a rushing sound in his ears of something like water, and he can no longer even hear his enemy's movements anymore. The darkness is draining him of all colour, though he doesn't have a mirror on him so he can't tell. But he feels it: slurping along his cheeks like honey, sticking into every crevice and giving him a needling pain. Kaiba's not sure if having the soul ripped away from its physical vessel is much worse than having the soul tortured inside its vessel. He's felt both now, and he's not sure what's more painful, though he thinks on it for a fraction of an instant.

The Item everyone calls the Millennium Rod is being pulled out from the man's belt now, and he's sliding the end casing off (it has a casing on the end? Kaiba is surprised). It's a lethal tip underneath the casing, and he sees it and knows that one stab will drive right down through to his heart. Strangely he cannot move his legs beneath him to stand, though he dearly wishes to. Something's eating away at his insides, and something's eating away at his outsides. His energy is draining, and his limbs no longer obey his commands. Kaiba wonders if he's lost.

At the very least, his opponent is not unaffected by their fight, and maybe that is all that he needed to accomplish. The others will take him out, perhaps...surely. Yuugi will. Or is he a different Yuugi?

He's trying to stab the Rod down now, and Kaiba watches curiously as the other image grips onto the golden object and pulls backward with just as much strength as the real one puts forward. They're yelling at each other, both faces furious, though Kaiba thinks that this is maybe what is fuelling the real image. He thinks to tell the double this, but can only watch as Shadows clog his throat and fill his bloodstream, for the inevitable abrupt jerking of the object out of the image's hands.

Gold is all he sees, as cold metal encased and built of magic slices through the air, striking downward.

His last thought is for his brother, and for the distraught double of his enemy, sliding out into nothingness, defeated. Then Kaiba becomes nothing, too.

xXx

He does not so much open his eyes as he does wake up, which is strange, because he thinks that waking involves opening his eyes, and so it takes him a while to realize that he does not actually have eyes anymore. Not physically, anyway, though spiritually was another matter entirely. It's a hard concept to swallow for him, and he looks down uneasily at his self-image, his spiritual body that his mind has created for his soul to look like when he chose to have a form at all. It's see-through, unsurprisingly so, though he wishes that it were not. It reminds him too much of the terrible paranormal movies on late night television. Not that Kaiba could ever get through a whole movie, of course. He isn't a believer in the supernatural.

Time (or this place's version of it, anyway) ticks away far more than Kaiba would know, because now that he has no physical body anymore, it is impossible for him to retain any memories other than the ones that he had at the time of his death. After all, he has no brain to store away the information anymore. His spiritual form is just the impression of his life experiences, no longer growing, no longer allowing him to improve as a person, even mentally. So Kaiba stares down at his spiritual form, his thoughts in a constant loop for as long as he feels like thinking about how surprised he is about not having a body anymore. He's confused because he does not feel like he has woken up, not entirely, because there were no eyelids to slide open, and no yawn to be had. He stares at his arms and hands and reflects on how it reminds him of the terrible late night movies that were sometimes on the television. And then he forgets, and becomes surprised and confused again, and his thoughts restart.

But Kaiba is a soul that has a place to belong to, even if he is dead, and the gods of the world called Earth are not interested in allowing him to linger in the non-place that existed between the living planes and the dead planes of existence. So then came something to break him from his loop.

Kaiba looks up, startled by a noise like a thump in the serene nothingness of the void, and sees a door hanging on nowhere and supported by nothing. He gets to his feet, though he has no feet to stand on. But Kaiba no longer cares about this; he's already forgetting what he is.

The door is golden, with a large engraving of an Eye in the middle, and Kaiba knows this Eye, but he pretends he doesn't. Smoothly, it swings open, and he is suddenly looking at a mirror image of himself, draped in ancient garb and sporting a heavy tan.

He's displeased, but he doesn't let this show. His other self says something in another language, low in volume and gentle in tone. On the other side of the door there is a world like nothing he has ever dreamed of. He has come from paradise, he says, and Kaiba is to join him.

Having none of this, Kaiba snaps, "I'm not going with you. I don't even know you."

But he did not need to have met him to know him, the other self tells him, still in that low volume like he too understood the confusion and uncertainty in waking up in a place he doesn't want to be in. It is almost impossible that they are having a conversation, because Kaiba is quite sure that he does not understand him or speak the language that he is speaking, but yet somehow the words come across the space and filter into his spirit ears to translate themselves perfectly into Japanese. "You are me," the spirit across from him says firmly, like he expects not to be questioned. Kaiba's annoyed, now. "You will come through the door and we will be whole again."

"I have someone I must wait for," Kaiba says determinedly. And he sits back down, intending not to move an inch. "And I don't believe you."

The spirit is frustrated, but there is something calling him from beyond the door, so he turns to leave with parting words thrown over his shoulder. "I will come again."

But of course, Kaiba forgets.

He's sitting in nothingness, surprised at the lack of scenery, and wondering over how he has gotten there when all he remembers is darkness eating away at his body and two images, one real and one fake, fighting over an ancient power shaped like a stick. To be fair, it is more of a sceptre, and Kaiba knows this, but he likes demeaning the Egyptian nonsense and so always calls it a stick in his mind. As he goes over past events, he remembers that he has lost the battle, and then stops thinking about it to keep himself from getting depressed. Then he looks up, and wonders where he is and why he is there, and the loop repeats.

There is a child walking through the stillness, wading through the nothingness like she knows where she wants to go, but her eyes are blank like she cannot remember. Kaiba looks up after a while, trying to keep himself from getting too depressed, and forgets his line of thought as he sees her walking towards him. She sees him too, and blinks, before hesitantly waving a little.

If there is one thing that Kaiba is not good at, it is dealing with children. His brother is intelligent and so Kaiba does not treat him like a child because of that, but this girl coming up to him looked several inches shorter than Mokuba. So he falters, not sure of how to act around someone so young. After a few moments of undefined time she reaches him.

"Hello," she says, and her hair is white, and Kaiba thinks that she looks familiar.

"Hello..." he returns cautiously.

After waiting a while and seeing that he is not interested in speaking any further, she strides right up to his side and sits by him. "I didn't know there was anybody else out here," she says with a tentative smile.

He's uncertain of what to make of this, since he doesn't know if he has seen anybody else or not. But he says, "Neither did I. Have you been here long?" It's a stupid question, but Kaiba doesn't know this.

Dropping her chin into her hands, she frowns and makes a humming sound as she thinks. "I'm not sure. I just have been thinking that I must keep going, and that I must keep thinking to keep going, or..."

"Or...?" He's curious now, and she doesn't seem likely to go babbling about childish subjects, so he's content with the conversation. She really was looking familiar to him, and he frowns now too, trying to think about where he might have met her or seen her before.

A small sigh escapes her throat. "I don't know," she admits, and seems sad about it. Then she adds suddenly, "Maybe I've been looking for something. If I am trying to keep myself going, maybe I'm trying to get somewhere?"

"Don't ask me," Kaiba says in exasperation.

Her frown is deeper now. "Don't ask you what?"

"...I don't know. Were we talking about something?"

She's stumped now, and he is too. After several moments of silence, she peers up at him from behind her bangs and holds out her hand. "I'm Amane. What's your name?"

Kaiba stares at the hand before shaking it curtly. "Kaiba. Seto Kaiba."

She giggles, and he thinks that she sounds terribly gentle, like she's never known to be wary of strangers. "Oh. Amane's actually my first name. My last name's Bakura." With that, Kaiba finally fits all the pieces together and nods.

"You have a brother."

"I do! Yes." She's surprised, but looks suddenly distant, as she tries to remember him. There's a pout forming on her face now. Leaning in, she drops her voice to a whisper like she's telling him a secret. "He's not here though. He got to stay behind while I had to go to this place. So I have to wait for him here."

Something in her innocent face makes Kaiba's chest twist. "I'm waiting for a brother, too." He tells her quietly, though it's no secret and certainly no comfort to the girl. But her eyes widen, and she scoots closer to him to lean her head on his shoulder, her small fingers curling in his sleeve. "What are you doing?" He grumbles uncomfortably.

"We'll wait together," she decides, tilting her head up to smile softly at his uneasy face. Kaiba shifts like he doesn't know how to handle the human contact. He wants to push her away, but she's without her brother like he's without his, and he feels sorry for her. So Kaiba stops fidgeting after a moment and lets her lean against him. After all, she's just a child...and probably lonely.

They're sitting in the stillness, waiting for time to stop or start, but there will never be a way for them to keep track of time, even if it was ticking away before their very eyes. Kaiba's forgotten the name of the girl leaning against him, and he can't quite remember how he got where he was or why he was there at all, but he supposes it doesn't matter. She chatters away sometimes, about the school she used to go to or the friends she used to have, and he thinks that she's forgotten his name too, but he doesn't mind this either. Because they have the company of one another, and while he's waiting in the nothingness for something to happen, it's good to have a companion to talk to.

After a while, a woman walks into the non-space through a pearl white door that appeared with a thump, and tries to convince the girl clutching at his sleeve that she should go with her. They argue, and the woman cries, and Kaiba sits beside the child in discomfort but cannot bring himself to leave her. Then the woman leaves, and he wonders why there are tears on the child's face, and why her fingers so desperately hold onto his sleeve. But she does not know why either, and they soon forget about it.

Some indeterminate length of time and non-time after this incident, another door thumps into existence, and it's wooden and clean looking, with no embellishment. Kaiba thinks that this door is like the doors in his mansion, and he looks on curiously with the girl at his side as the door swings open.

There's a child standing in the doorway, but not a child. He's an adult in a child's body, and he has piercing eyes like Kaiba's and this makes him wary. "Seto," says the child stiffly, formally. He does not even look at Amane. She is nothing to him.

Kaiba nods. "Noah. It's been a while."

Running his fingers through his hair like he's about to approach an awkward subject, Noah says calmly, "I've come to get you. You need to move on into the afterlife now, Seto. You can't stay here."

He's stiff like Noah now too, and the girl has tightened her grip on him, looking up into his face with determination. She does not want him to leave, and Kaiba spares her a brief reassuring glance. "I can't. Not yet." He tells his brother, just as calmly.

"You've lost, Seto. You know what that means, don't you? To lose is to die. So get up, get to your feet. Come with me." Noah tells him firmly, not interested in mincing words.

Angry, Kaiba does get to his feet, and he storms over to him, dragging the girl behind him as she will not let go of his sleeve. One hand fists into Noah's brilliant white jacket. Noah's eyes narrow. "Don't you _dare_ use those words! Never again. I won't hear them from you! Those were _his _words."

Noah's face twists for a moment as Kaiba's outburst hits him hard. He breaks eye contact; looks to the side. But Kaiba does not let go or back down. "Seto. You deserve peace." Noah says finally, gaze lowered.

With this Kaiba's hand loosens and he takes several steps backward. "I must wait for Mokuba."

Noah's silent, absorbing the statement. The girl at Kaiba's side jerks her head back and forth between them as she desperately tries to figure out what is going on, and whether the child who has come for Kaiba was going to really take him away. Sighing in exasperation, Kaiba reaches out his hand and grasps her own, and her shoulders drop as she realizes he means to stay. Her eyes water in relief, but Kaiba's attention is on Noah. "Come with me," says the turquoise-haired boy; one last plea. Kaiba's head shakes once.

"I will. With Mokuba."

Noah looks at him for awhile, but he turns to leave, understanding. He cares about Mokuba too.

They settle down into the nothingness again, he and the girl, after the door disappears. "What if Mokuba comes before Ryou does?" The child questions him, a little frantically, as they look at the non-space where the door used to be.

He frowns, because he only knows one person by the name of Ryou. It hits him after a moment that this girl must be a relative of his, and that she is waiting for him like he is waiting for Mokuba. So he says, "We'll wait for both of them." And she cries out in relief, head dropping into his lap while Kaiba awkwardly pats her shoulder. He's not used to reassuring others.

So they sit in the stillness, not knowing each other, not remembering the relatives they've turned away. But Kaiba thinks, as she sits in his lap and plays with her hair, that he must know her or he would not have allowed her to be with him in the first place. So he accepts the closeness of her in place of Mokuba, and yearns for time to stop, or start.

They sit in the time-warp of forever and never at all, not bothering to speak anymore, because they do not remember speaking with each other, and maybe one of them is mute. Or perhaps speaking isn't necessary, though they don't know why that would be so. But for some reason the closeness is a good enough substitute for not having the time on them, so they're content. When they care to think about it.

Amane's mother will not come for her again, though she does not know this. Kaiba's brother will not come for him again, though he does not know this. But Priest Seth, past incarnation of Kaiba, is not willing to give up on the other half of his soul just yet, and so he comes to see Kaiba, one final time.

A door thumps into existence in the plane that rests between the planes of the living and the dead. Kaiba and Amane look up, curious, holding onto each other and wondering how something else could exist there at all. They do not remember anything but each other, after all, so surely this door must be a rare occurrence.

In steps Seth, god-king and high priest, clad in rich jewels and blue robes. Kaiba is not impressed, but Amane grins toothily, delighted to see someone new. Seth only has eyes for Kaiba.

He's saying something now, but the language is odd, and Kaiba pretends that he doesn't understand, glaring coldly at the man that he most certainly is not related to. "Come through to paradise. Your...brother and I need you to come with us."

"Go away," Kaiba says sternly.

Seth spreads his arms, and widens his eyes like he can lure in the businessman with promises of joy and wealth. But Kaiba is like Seth: he likes business deals, straightforward arrangements where vagueness is abhorred. He likes fine print and signed agreements. Seth drops the act as Kaiba continues to glare, and he understands. "You do not belong here," his ancient counterpart says loudly in frustration, not liking that Kaiba is trying to pretend that he can't understand.

"No," Kaiba agrees, because he can't get around with trying not to talk to him now, not when he must make the man understand that he can't go. Amane suddenly becomes nervous, and wraps her arms around his neck and glares at Seth like Kaiba. "But I have someone I must wait for. My brother."

Suddenly looking hurt, Seth bites down on his tongue to keep from saying something callous. But he looks at his other self, and understands. He too has family he wishes he had known before he died, family he wishes he could have spent more time with and gotten to know better. But his family is all dead, and Seth can return to them. Not all of Kaiba's family dead.

"Noah and I will return for you, when you have your brother. And then you will come with us," Seth says, and he is asking for Kaiba's agreement though he does not actually say so.

He gives it nevertheless. "Yes. Then I will go." Seth looks at him like it pains him to leave, and grinds his teeth in frustration. Amane continues to glare as he turns away from them, but Kaiba makes a final comment on impulse. "Don't be concerned. It's not as if you'll be waiting for forever."

Then Seth is disappearing through the door, ocean blue eyes still staring at Kaiba as the door closes shut and disappears out of existence. Amane's features soften and she leans back against him, but Kaiba notices her teeth biting at her bottom lip. He frowns, and presses a finger against her lips, silently demanding she stop. She gives him a sad smile. "It will feel like forever, I think."

"Will it?" Kaiba questions thoughtfully, "for him, perhaps. But as for us...I'm sure we'll forget."

She stares at him for a second, before giggling and leaning up to kiss his cheek. Kaiba doesn't mind, because he imagines that there must be some reason he allowed her to stay by his side in the first place.

So they sit in the stillness, and forget who the other is, but hold onto the closeness they share. If only because it is the only thing that reminds them of what is like to live.

Because in a place where time is meaningless, it's important to remember the feeling of a slow beating of a heart next to one's own, like the gentle ticking of a clock, counting down forever.

The End.


End file.
